Yokneam Illit (), also Yoqne'am Illit, is a city in the Northern District of Israel. It is located in a hilly region of the Lower Galilee at the base of the Carmel Mountains, and overlooks the Jezreel Valley. It is from Haifa and from Tel Aviv. Yokneam Illit, known as Israel's "Startup Village", is home to a high-tech hub surrounded by forests and small communities. In it had a population of .
Yokneam Illit was founded in 1950. It was recognized as a local council in 1967 and achieved city status in 2007. It is located on the route of Israel's major highways – Highway 70 and Highway 6. In 1989, after Simon Alfassi was elected mayor, Yokneam Illit began to attract high-tech companies looking for an alternative to Gush Dan.
Over 100 high-tech companies now operate from Yokneam Illit, generating exports of approximately 5 billion US dollars annually. Although real estate prices are low relative to the Gush Dan area, the high rate of growth has pushed prices up faster than in similar-sized cities.
History Antiquity
Yokneam appears in the list of 119 conquered cities by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III after the victory in the battle of Megiddo (1468 BC).
Yokneam is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a city of Levites within the territory of the Israelite tribe of Zebulun (). It is located near Megiddo (Armageddon). The Crusaders called Yokneam "Cain Mons", or "Mountain of Cain" in keeping with the tradition that Cain, son of Adam (), was murdered at this site.
Yokneam was populated throughout the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman/Byzantine, Arab, Crusaders, Mameluk, and Ottoman periods. Yokneam was built on the lands of a former Arab village named Qira, depopulated in the lead up to the 1948 Arab–Israeli war.
British Mandate period The Yokneam Moshava was established in 1935 in the area. State of Israel
In July 1950, a transit camp for Jewish immigrants and refugees was set up to absorb 250 new families and remained part of Yokneam Moshava until 1967. By the start of 1952, another 400 families were housed in the transit camp. Toward the end of 1951, the first 285 families moved from the tent camp to permanent housing on the hill above the Yokneam Moshava.70 Families Accept 700 Families In 1952, Yokneam was considered unusual in that it had a single school for all regardless of whether they were religious or secular, or from the moshava or the tent camp.
In 1964, Yokneam had 4,300 residents. 160 families were living in the moshava. In 1967, Yokneam split into two local councils: Yokneam and Yokneam Illit.
In the 1980s, 90 percent of the residents worked in the two local factories in Yokneam. In September 1990, the Soltam factory shut down creating high unemployment.
In the 1990s, Yokneam absorbed a large wave of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. During that time, Yokneam's industrial parks began to attract high-tech firms.
Yokneam Illit was formally declared a city in 2006. In 2009, Yokneam Illit was linked to Highway 6 and received recognition as Israel's first "Green City" in the Cleantech competition. In the wake of these developments, Yokneam Illit became a hub for medical, cleantech and product development companies.
In 2011, 16,000 workers entered the industrial parks every day. Of these, only 4,000 were local residents.
Demography
In 2014, Yokneam had a population of 21,100. The unemployment rate was 5 percent, which was lower than the national average. The median age was 32. 76% of Yokneam Illit's residents were 40 years old or under. Eighty percent of high-school students graduated with a bagrut matriculation certificate, which was one of the highest rates in Israel. 40% of the population were college graduates. In 2022, 89.7% of the population was Jewish and 10.3% was counted as other.
Social and economic ecosystem Since the 1950s when Yokneam Moshava and Yokneam Illit shared a single school, social integration and coexistence has been an integral part of the local culture. The first wave of immigrants to settle in the Maabara (tent camp) had major contingents from at least 6 different Jewish communities (Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Romania, Yemen and India), all of whom were absorbed by the Moshava which had been settled in 1935 by Jews from Germany and the Netherlands.
The next wave of new immigrants came in the 1960s from North Africa, followed by immigrants from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. In the 1990s, Yokneam Illit absorbed large numbers of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union.
Starting in the 1990s, the growth of high-tech companies in Yokneam Illit also brought an influx of Israeli-born residents along with an increasing number of immigrants from Western Europe, South Africa, North America and South America. During this period, the economic problems of the Kibbutz and Moshav movements led many of the young families in the Megiddo Regional Council to move to nearby Yokneam Illit.
Yokneam Illit's accelerated demand for day care and Kindergartens led to a shortage of space in local day care and Kindergartens at the same time that there was a shortage of children at some of the Kibbutzim. In order to avoid sending their children to other small communities in the area, Kibbutz children's houses and Kindergartens began accepting children from nearby Yokneam Illit, and in some cases the number of children from Yokneam Illit outnumbered the Kibbutz children. This phenomenon later extended to the elementary and secondary schools until the building of new schools in Yokneam Illit was able to catch up with demand.
Many of the children from Yokneam Illit and their families remained in the Megiddo school system, while families who moved from the Megiddo communities to Yokneam Illit were educating their children in the Yokneam Illit school system. The family ties and school friendships led to mixed Yokneam-Megiddo parents groups in both communities and nearly all sports activities and many other after-school activities being fully integrated. Today, it is extremely rare to find a local team representing only Yokneam Illit or only the Megiddo Regional Council.
The Partnership2Gether program, which partnered Yokneam Illit and the Megiddo Regional Council on the Israeli side, with the Jewish communities of Atlanta, GA and St. Louis, MO on the US side, helped institutionalize cooperation between the Yokneam Illit municipality and the Megiddo Regional Council. The impact on joint community leadership not only affected Yokneam-Megiddo, but also created an ongoing relationship between the Jewish communities of Atlanta and St. Louis.
This cross-pollination has led to an integrated economic ecosystem that help support the high-tech companies in Yokneam Illit. Examples of this cooperation can be seen in the activities of the Southeast chapter of the US-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, and the success of companies like Given Imaging . Given Imaging, which began as a small startup in Yokneam Illit, leveraged its special relationship with the Southeast chapter of the US-Israel Chamber of Commerce when it opened its Marketing headquarters in Atlanta, GA.
Economy
Overview
Yokneam's proximity to two major universities (Technion and University of Haifa, both in Haifa), location at the crossroads between northern Israel and the major urban areas of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, tax benefits and investment grants associated with its status as a "National Priority Area A", and its small town surroundings and lower cost of housing all worked together to attract Israel's highest concentration of R&D companies outside of Tel Aviv and give it the nickname of Startup Village.
Under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment, approved enterprises in Yokneam Illit enjoy the highest level of tax benefits and investment grants (currently up to 20% of the investment or 10 year tax exemption). In addition, companies relocating to the region can apply for concessions in local taxes over a three-year period from the Yokneam Illit Local Authority.
Yokneam's industrial parks are home to more than 100 high-tech companies with exports of approximately 5 billion US dollars annually. Companies specialize in a wide range of technologies, including semicondcutors, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. These include Intel, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, Medtronic, Given Imaging, Naiot Venture Accelerator, Mellanox Technologies, Marvell Technology Group, Biosense Webster and Lumenis. An additional high-tech park, Mevo Carmel Jewish-Arab Industrial Park, is already underway that will be a joint venture of Yokneam Illit, Megiddo Regional Council and the Druze villages of Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya.
The growth of the high-tech companies in Yokneam has attracted speakers and members of specialized professions, such as technical writers, to come from other parts of Israel to meet and exchange ideas.
In addition to technology-based industry, Yokneam has a number of production facilities, including Osem, which established a plant in Yokneam in 1974; and a boutique winery, Morad Winery, known for its special wines made from Pomegranates, Passion Fruit, Red Grapefruits, Coffee, Coconuts, Carub and many other fruits. Initially, the plant produced mainly pasta products, but the scope of activities broadened over the years. In 1997, the facility doubled in size and three production lines were installed for baked goods such as crackers, biscuits, cookies and pretzels. Bamba, a popular Israeli snack food, is also produced in Yokneam. Many Yokneam residents are employed at the plant, which won awards from the Council for a Beautiful Israel for its attractive premises.
Companies with a significant R&D presence Over a hundred high technology companies are headquartered in Yokneam or have R&D facilities there. These include:
Advanced Dicing Technologies (ADT) Annapurna Labs Arad Technologies Argo Medical Technologies BATM Advanced Communications Biosense Webster BioDalia Microbiological Technologies Carestream Health CMT Medical Technologies EZchip Semiconductor Galil Medical Given Imaging High Sec Labs Intel Kaminaro Lumenis Marvell Technology Group Medtronic Mellanox Technologies Microbot Medical Mind CTI MRV Communications Naiot Venture Accelerator Nvidia Norav Medical NXP Semiconductors On Track Innovations Panasonic Avionics Corporation ReWalk SkySapience Solcon Surf Communication Solutions Synel Syneron Medical Telco Systems Zadara Storage
Startup exits Major startup exits include BTG's recent $110 million acquisition of Galil Medical, Amazon's acquisition of Annapurna Labs for a reported $350–375 million and Mellanox Technologies acquisition of EZchip Semiconductor for a reported $811 million, Covidien's 2014 acquisition of Given Imaging for a reported $860 million, Intel's acquisition of Oplus Technologies Inc in 2005 for nearly $50 million, and Marvell's acquisition of Galileo Technology Ltd. for $2.7 billion in stock in 2000. In addition to these exits, Lumenis recently merged with an affiliate of China's XIO group for a reported $510 million.
Technology incubators As the number of hi-tech companies in Yokneam grow, technology incubators have begun opening in or moving to Yokneam, each specializing in different types of technology.
Parks and recreation
Yokneam is a very green city. Not just in terms of ecological activism, but also in terms of its physical surroundings. Roughly two-thirds of the land within Yokneam's city limits are green space (parks, archeological digs, gardens, playgrounds). It has five major public parks, and outdoor amphitheater and over 80 playgrounds distributed throughout the city. Tel Yokneam, which includes the ruins of a crusader church and its intricate water system, is used as an educational site where Yokneam's school children perform restoration work under the direction of the Antiquities Authority and the National Parks Authority.